Comments

I'm going to be completely honest here: I knew this guy was versatile. But learning he was Mew was what really surprised me. It's starting to make since why they needed different people for the monokubs.

I'm so sorry...HOW THE F@#$ DOES THIS GUY VOICE MEW? I mean I knew he had range since he voiced all five Monokubs but woah. Is it safe to call him the Japanese Jim Cummings? Because I feel like we should call him that.

NO ESCAPE. Happy Birthday, Koichi Yamadera aka Yama-chan! He's acquired a knack for voicing cool guys over the years, though what I find most marvelous about him is that he can tackle pretty much any archetype aside from just charming men and he's a very skilled impressionist. To say Koichi has a wide range would be the understatement of the century. Plus those credits under his belt; Christ! On top of all that, he's looking real swell at 56. Rie Tanaka is one lucky lady...

@MHUltimate2013DW ikr! I always asumed Mew was female due to its voice. Come soon would I know it was actually a Badass Baritone (TM).

As for the (probably rhetorical) question...its kinda like how he (& many other actors) does Donald Duck, combined with a softening of the speech, &...I wanna say falsetto but that's probably not what I mean to say..

wow, just wow. if theres legends in the seiyuu community then this guy is certainly among thoose in the list.
so many voices, some the same others jsut plain diffrent.
from badass images to disney icons.
yeah Koichi-san is truly a remarkable seiyuu.

- What Cats said (along with the note that there's a lot of stuff they work on that is simply obscure and/or doesn't leave the home country)

- Multiple casting and using the main cast to fill out bit parts is more common in US cartoons

- English-speaking world is more fractured. There's people in Dallas, LA, LA non-union, New York, etc. In Japan basically EVERYONE works in Tokyo. When you look at japanese VAs as a whole there is simply more competition because everyone is in one space. The fact that english actors are so divided means that each region allows its own group of actors to form a niche and dominate there. If everyone was all in the same place, it'd be a lot harder to do that.

You really can't compare different languages, regions, etc. 1:1 and have the exact same results. By definition, the circumstances will always be different.

@NCZ Hm, I do suppose so, yeah. However I do have to say I can't quite see the second point, in that LA is pretty much *the* worldwide entertainment hub, they attract the biggest talent pool. I have no statistics to back it up, but I would generally assume there are enough actors & business in California that there is easily comparable (if not *more* competition) over there.

Also I wouldnt quite say LA non-union is a different market than LA union...those actors are still competing for the big union stuff, they're just not as established so they do non-union to pay the bills. Like Wakamoto & Daisuke Ono doing hentai was still Tokyo I think... ?

You're looking at it the wrong way. The pool of the top voice actors in LA is smaller than the pool of the top voice actors in Japan. Because a large amount of VAs in LA are screen actors who do VO on the side for the paycheque but aren't totally dedicated to their work. The amount of people in LA who make a living purely off VO are a minority. In Japan it's similar that only a few people can make a living off VO alone, but overlap between screen and voice actors is much rarer.

Also consider that US casting usually loves actors who have a wide range of voices. It's the versatile actors who tend to rack up credits like no other. In Japan the most famous actors are often hired in part due to their reputation and fanbase, and usually the vocal range actors get to display is more reserved in comparison. It's more common for people to be hired primarily for their natural voice than because they can do a variety of wacky cartoony voices. Obviously there are exceptions. But as I said, the situations are never completely 1:1.

@Shaun Ince Was looking up old Scott McNeil roles & came upon Luo Long. Had to do a double take. Come to think of it, Scott McNeil is sort of like him in a way (much like Corey Burton actually). A ton of range & a voice enough for quite a bit. Can mimic virtually anybody & do it very well. Very prestigious VA.

No disrespect to Robin Williams, but Yamadera is the definitive Genie. No VA in Japan but Yamadera has played Genie. He is the most consistent Genie. Oh, and he's certainly better than Castellaneta for sure.